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December 22, 2017 Event Recap: The 2017 Bit Awards

Derrick Soriano

Experience The 2017 Bit Awards for the first time (or again) on Youtube.

We aimed to make this year’s Bit Awards bigger, better and more personal than ever. And that’s exactly what we did. Accompanied by the jazz stylings of The Bits band, host Ruffin Prentiss brought class and panache to the boldest Bit Awards yet. We turned the theater into an interactive game show with Colleen Macklin, the Adventure Society, and Quiplash. Game Changer Honoree, Warren Spector, inspired us to dream bigger. Our Rising Pixel Award Winners were presented their surprise wins with touching tributes from their colleagues and loved ones. And we featured 14 trailers, game and release date premieres across the pre-show and ceremony.

Most importantly, the talented developers in our community and their standout games were the real stars of the night. And below is a full roundup of everything that happened:

2017 GAME CHANGER

Presented by Ted Price

Warren Spector, OtherSide Entertainment

During his keynote address for Game Changer Honoree, Warren Spector reminded all the developers in attendance to persist in their pursuit of new and original games. He urged the crowd to “not settle” and dream up more immersive and engaging games. He left us inspired and his words perfectly matched the tone of the ceremony as Bit Awards aimed to go bigger than ever for its third year.

And here are your winners of the night…

BEST STUDENT GAME

Presented by Dan Butchko

Sumer by Studio Wumpus

BEST XR GAME

Presented by Pete Vigeant

Panoptic by Team Panoptes

BEST STYLE

Presented by Sherri Smith

Yi and the Thousand Moons by David Su

PLAYER’S CHOICE AWARD

Presented by Lucie Pohl

The Ultimate Clap Back, Mot & Dot LLC

TABLETOP GAME OF THE YEAR

Presented by Colleen Macklin

University of Dope by Vance Hall LLC

MOBILE GAME OF THE YEAR

Presented by Dalton Gray

Calculator: The Game by Simple Machine

PC/CONSOLE GAME OF THE YEAR

Presented by Warren Spector

Perception by The Deep End Games

RISING PIXEL – BOSTON

Presented by Ruffin Prentiss

Ryan Canuel, Petricore, Inc.

RISING PIXEL – SAN FRANCISCO

Presented by Chetan Surpur

Sorob Raissi, Spreadshot Studios

RISING PIXEL – NEW YORK CITY

Presented by Ruffin Prentiss

MaryMartha Ford-Dieng, The Ultimate Clap Back

The Performances

The Bits band

The Bits band led by Zac Zinger, composer a composer on Street Fighter V, kicked off the night with an impressive amount of Jazz-infused themes from Mario Kart to Starcraft to Persona 4. He and his band scored the night with video game themes all night long, including a musical tribute to Game Changer Warren Spector.

David Su, Dominique Star, and Laila Smith

Boston developer David Su brought his video game musical: Yi and the Thousand Moons to life on the main stage with a one-of-a-kind performance featuring vocalists Dominique Star and Laila Smith.

The Premieres

Next Up Hero by Digital Continue revealed its Early Access release date as January 11th, 2018.

SpiritSphere DX by Eendhoorn Studios (developer) and Fabraz (publisher), made its playable debut at the Bit Awards pre-show arcade.

Set sail in the Treasure Adventure World by Robit Games in Q1 2018.

Burgal’s Bounty coming out on Android and iOS to be released on February 15th, 2018.

Lamplight City by Grundislav Games premiered its’ trailer. Track your partner’s killer in this new detective adventure game.

Simple Machine debuted a new mobile game based on our favorite social platforms, Tweetz.

A new trailer for rhythm game Sound Sky by HIGHKEY Games featureddesigning drumbeats and creating songs to share with the world.